Rasmussen thrown off Tour de France

[earthside]

Source: Times of London

The Tour de France was tonight dealt a potentially fatal blow when race leader Michael Rasmussen was sensationally kicked out of the race by his own Rabobank team.

The 33-year-old Dane had seemingly weathered the storm over missing four out of competition dope tests in the past 18 months and had won Wednesday’s stage to all but seal overall victory.

However the team has learnt that Rasmussen lied to them over where and what he was up to during the month of June when he missed an anti-doping check. He had claimed to have been in Mexico but was in truth in Italy.

“He broke team rules,” said a team spokesman.

MORE

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2141780.ece

---

Wow.

[soothsayer]

1. this is the craziest TdF ever!

[rocktivity]

2. What's French for

"Come back, Lance Armstrong, all is forgiven! We promise we won't complain about you beating our brains out all the time!"

:rofl:
rocknation

[Flagg]

5. Armstrong took drugs like crazy

He slipped through the net somehow but everybody in Europe knows the truth.

He's not welcome here.

[Louie the XIV]

8. Sure he did

Don't let your anti-Americanism get in the way of reality.

[hogwyld]

15. Lance was the most scrutinized athlete of the TdF for years.

If he had taken anything, I'm sure it would have shown up somewhere in 7 years. A lot of allegations and books have come out, and as far as I know, none have withstood the light of day. Could it possibly be that his cancer gave him a much higher pain theshold?

[peacebird]

16. Lances urine samples from his second TdF win show EPO. They were tested along with

other old samples as a test for the new test for EPO. Several samples tested positive.

Frankie A (former teammate) and his wife both were complelled to testify in court and both said Lance admitted to a doc in their presence that he had doped. This was when Lance was in hospital for cancer treatment.

A former assistant also says Lance asked to borrow makeup to cover needle marks.

The team threw away bags which had held activegan during his second winning TdF - that is a substance that was legal at the time BUT is only used to THIN the blood. Not something a clean rider of the TdF would need to do as red blood cell counts will naturally decrease over a strenuous three week race, unless the racer is using EPO or other drugs to increase red cell counts.

I believe totally that Lance doped int he TdF to get his wins.

I am American, a cyclist, an avid cycling fan AND opposed to doping.

on edit: Armstrong used Ferrari, so did Vinokourov and many other cyclists who are now CONVICTED DOPERS

[Louie the XIV]

17. Good for you, you can regurgitate the french media's smear campagin

now get back to me when you have proven evidence that Lance was illegally doping during his Tour victories.

[peacebird]

18. do you have an AIPS official press pass? Have you ever covered cycling races?

I do and I have. Covered races in the USA and the spring classics in Europe as well as World Championships and the TdF.

And I firmly believe he doped.

on edit - btw - by default all doping is illegal

[Chemical Bill]

37. Please help me remember...

didn't Lance's first win come from his breaking an unwritten rule of cycling? He was near the front on a slippery brick causeway, and a crash behind him impeded most of his rivals . The code of the peleton was for him to hold back and wait for the rest of the group to catch up, but he put them far behind him that day. His margin carried all the way to Paris. That might explain much anti-Lance fervor. I must say that I have watched his wins with joy, not the least because he survived cancer. But I have to admit he is not perfect.

I also read a write up in Outside magazine a few years ago. The basic message was that all the elite cyclists use performance enhancing drugs, as they work so well that you have to use them to be at the top level. The writer suggested legalizing what was widespread anyway, and creating two classes of top athletes, clean and doped. I generally support legalizing drugs myself.

Bill

[peacebird]

43. here's a link to CyclingNews coverage of the stage in 1999.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/1999/tour99/stage2.html

He definitely took advantage of the crash and several favorites for the overall victory had their tour hopes destroyed on the causeway that day. I believe that doping helps racers BUT if the playing field were level (ie: no doping) then it would once again be man against man - with preparation, hard training and natural ability giving us the victors instead of pharmacists.

Until the peloton has had enough and demands an end to it however, doping will continue. The riders have a pretty good idea of who dopes and who is clean. Boonen talked about the "Men in Black" earlier this week. THose guys who disappear for a month or so before major races, training in basic black instead of in the team colors and working anonomously with doctors like Ferrari - who then show up for the race and crush the competition with superhuman strength.

The decision to punish the whole TEAM for a rider getting caught is a great first step I think. The DS can no longer turn a blind eye to doping, or encourage it, with only the rider taking the fall. Now the whole team (and in so the DS as well) are punished.

[harpboy_ak]

23. Yeah, just parrot all the lies printed in L'Equipe

Just because the French press repeated the same lie over and over does not make it true, and Landis's stupid behavior aside, he conclusively demonstrated that the French lab testing TDF winners failed to follow proper testing procedures, including following the chain of custody rules, allowing lab personnel to know whose samples were being tested, and not allowing the cyclist's representative to observe the test of the backup sample.

I believe Lance when he says that he never used performance enhancing drugs. He never tested positive, even when they took samples in the off season at 11 p.m. or 7 a.m. He is, however, blessed with a large heart, oversized lungs, and longer than normal thighs, all of which enhance cycling performance, and after his chemo, an extremely high tolerance for pain.

Quite frankly, I think that the Europeans were jealous, especially when he won the 6th time. The French were especially jealous, and the worst offender was L'Equipe, the daily sports newspaper which sponsors the Tour.

When a reporter asked "What are you on?" Lance replied "I'm on my bike 6 hours a day. What are YOU on?"

I'm betting on Leipheimer or Contador to win this year.

Doping will only be brought under control without a lot of contests and disputes if they change the procedures, taking 3, not 2 samples, so that the third one to be held by a neutral 3rd party so it can be tested in the presence of representatives of the sport and the cyclist by a lab not connected to cycling or sports in the case of a disputed test result.

[INDIA]

26. Let me just say...

That I've been in Europe for six weeks now, and I go home in a couple days. I can't wait to go home to the USA.

Europeans have an enormous inferiority complex with America, which was just shown rather clearly by your comment, and I've noticed many other examples during my travels as well. All the Euro coverage of the British Open was "beat the Americans, beat the Americans." It was strange and a little pathetic. No American golfer cared about beating any specific person, all they wanted to do was win. And the fact that Armstrong dominated the Tour for 7 years caused all the Euro media outlets to trash him, ignoring the fact that he was clean, a cancer survivor, and an all around good guy apparantly. Just the fact that he was American was enough to incur the wrath of an entire continent and their MSM. Pathetic.

Then there was the guy in Holland who told me that WWII would have never happened if it wasn't for the Americans, so it WAS all our fault. Have a nice life Franc. I'm going back to the states.

[Chemical Bill]

36. The guy in Holland has a point. Think Prescott Bush. n/t

[INDIA]

39. Yeah you guys should hang out, that's what he said.

I can assure you that with or without Prescott Bush WWII would have happened. Amazing

[brentspeak]

35. Yeah, sure...that's why he's never tested positive. Even once.

I sure wouldn't want to go anywhere that convicts based on zero evidence.

[alfredo]

42. Not sure about that. He did something the other teams and riders didn't.

He made the tour the focus of his training. Before the tour, he'd ride the whole course, putting extra days riding the harder stages. He knew the mountains well. He knew how to ride them. His team was set up just for the tour. Lance and his whole team had their vital signs monitored through the whole race. They knew who could attack and who couldn't. Nothing was left to chance. Even the way he pedaled the bike was fine tuned. Other cyclist tried to emulate his style, but it was tuned to his body and style. That singular focus is what was lacking in the other teams.

There were other factors. If you have ever raced you know the good time trial riders and climbers know how to ride through the pain. I believe him when he said that the cancer made him stronger, and the pain of racing is nothing compared to what he experienced in his fight with cancer. I have witnessed other cancer survivors who came out of the experience transformed in a positive way. I've faced a life threatening disease, and it does change your outlook. If it changed his pain threshold, that could have been enough get him over the mountains.

This doesn't prove that he wasn't doping, but it does show that there were other factors such as training, focus, team, and personal fortitude. He is also a freak of nature in that his heart is super efficient and he has a very large lung capacity. Eddy Merckx had some of the same physical characteristics as Armstrong. Though I do think that Eddy might have resorted to doping near the end of his career. He was having difficulty rebounding from the previous stage. He was having trouble with boils that would not heal. The guy was in sad shape near the end. Lance seemed to hold up well, but that could be because he didn't ride a brutal schedule like the European riders did in Eddy's day.

One other factor, intelligence. They knew their adversaries, and they knew how to defeat them. Not only was Lance a talent, his team tactics were a thing of beauty. They raced smart, the controlled the race from start to finish.

I really feel that Lances team transformed how the tour can be won. Let's hope the tour survives the doping scandals.

[Tesha]

25. Plus ca change...

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.

Tesha

[mth44sc]

20. Wowzer

I love the TDF - because it lets me visit countryside I'm likely never to see.

But the race is pure farce.

I'd love for it to be the the event I want it to be - second only to maybe the Stanley Cup Playoffs in tough.

But alas - another year watching the puffed up

So this year the guy that wins won't really have won except that he might have had it not been that folks cheated yet again.

Sad.

[seasat]

3. Rasmussen? I bet it was due to biased polling.

Well, someone had to make the joke.

[rocktivity]

4. One rimshot, coming up!

rocknation

[elocs]

6. Are these bikers who dope just plain stupid or what?

With so many and so much dedicated to finding cheaters and dopers, they must be.

[rocktivity]

7. Cyclists, not bikers.

Cyclists:


Bikers:


You're welcome.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Submariner]

12. That's what I've always liked about you over the years Rock

You set the record straight and keep DU'ers in line. :toast:

[Baclava]

31. Stupid, yes, but it's more than individual choices.

When the big stars like Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso get tossed out you know it's bad in all the teams.
Don't be surprised if cycling gets dropped from the Olympics because of this rampant cheating.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Because he is a Republican hack pollster?!

[Mojambo]

10. I'm pretty much convinced that all top flight cyclists are doping.

The benefits in extreme endurance sports like that are just too huge to ignore.

[CANDO]

11. I read the doping is actually receiving transfusions to increase red blood cell counts.

And can anyone say with a straight face that a man who wins an elite athletic event against the world's most highly trained athletes seven years in a row did it without doping? This is too much. I'm sick of all the cheating in nearly every major sport.

[tammywammy]

13. That's why they take blood samples along with urine

They can count the number of red blood cells, and if you have too many you're out.

Doping can including drugs and the adding of red blood cells.

[Baclava]

22. That's how they caught Vinokourov

I guess a good sign of trouble is when a guy gets dropped on a climb and then comes back the next day 10X stronger to win a stage. Vino and Rasmussen both did this.

This is good for the Discovery team...Contador most likely will win and Levi Leipheimer will get a podium spot.

[DotGone]

24. They caught Vino because he used someone else's blood

If he used his own blood and did not overdo it to raising his hematocrit level above the failure level, no one would be the wiser.

When did Chicken crack? He covered everything that was thrown at him which reminded me too much of Basso in the Giro. If Chicken is doping (which I believe), then so is Contador. No way is he able to keep attacking a doped up Chicken in the mountains over and over like the Energizer bunny without something stronger than "mineral water." We know Disco's doctors are better than his old ones at Liberty Seguros.

[edhopper]

27. But Contador couldn't.

Yesterday, he could not stay with Rasmussen on the final climb.

[Ezlivin]

29. And Levi came back strong

I thought for sure that Contador would make one last attack and put Rasmussen in the rear, but he couldn't muster it. Levi kept a cool head, kept his pace and passed Contador.

I see great things for Alberto Contador. He's made this Tour pretty exciting.

[alfredo]

41. He's going to have to ride like a mad man in the time trial. Evans is

a good time trial rider and could take the yellow jersey that stage.

You need two skills, mountains and time trials to win, Evans has both. He was good enough in the mountains to keep from losing too much time to make up in Saturday's time trial. He's within reach of Contador.

[Baclava]

30. Rasmussen would have been a worthy winner.

Cheating aside. There is no greater spectacle than fighting off the attacks in the mountains.
Watching the riders bonking on the big climbs until there is just a handful left for the lead is pretty excitng stuff. I always watch all the mountain stages.

[alfredo]

40. He has tested negative this tour.

[IndianaGreen]

14. If it is too good to be true, it must be dope!

Rasmussen's dominance of the yellow jersey, and his strange missing of drug tests, raised a lot of questions about him. He was booed by the public this morning before starting today's leg.

Kudos to Rabobank for doing the right thing.

[DemoTex]

19. Looks like my friend and former neighbor, George Hincapie, is running #50.

Pedal hard, George. Keep the blue side up!

[NuttyFluffers]

21. all sports should make an "all drugs, all cybernetics" league and be done with it

i'm tired of hearing about the issues of doping and cheating, etc. have an athletic league where everyone can cheat to their heart's content, and have another reserved for those who don't want to. let the people savor ridiculous records and other more modest ones. actually, i'd be curious what would happen to sports if such a free-for-all avenue was allowed. would people become bored with "success" and switch to more of the spirit of the game? would people abandon "legit" athletics and push for higher and more fantastic feats of chemistry and mechanics (with a human face)? who knows, but it'd be an amusing car crash to watch.

(not that i care much about sports in the first place, i just love a good display of societal degeneration caused by competition... :P)

[Blue_Tires]

33. lol

Saturday Night Live had a great skit years ago: "The All-Drug Olympics"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCGYtFAQ2U

[Chemical Bill]

38. No kidding...

and while we're at it, how about paying college athletes and not making them take classes. The lying bothers me more than the truth.

Bill

[edhopper]

28. Though I am dismayed

by this, I think it is good in the long run. The TDF is bigger than any cyclist. Cycling is the most aggressive of any sport in it's anti doping.
I would hope that Football, Baseball and Soccer would follow their lead and truly try to clean up their sports.
Though it might take longer than they want, I think cycling and the TDF will come out of this a better, cleaner sport.

[tinrobot]

32. The bright side is that cycling actually tests for dope.

With the exception of the Olympics, most pro sports do not test nearly to the level of pro cycling. Yes, I'm talking to you, Barry Bonds.

You have to give cycling credit for tossing these dopers out and tossing out entire teams if one person is caught. It hurts the sport in the short term, but in the long run, it will be good. They really are making an effort to clean up the sport.

[BrightKnight]

34. Some of the sponsors are taking extreme measures

to clean up the sport. Team CSC had more that 400 announced tests for its 28 team members this year and has published the results online.

http://www.riis-cycling.com/upload/MidYear.pdf

Constant testing and zero tolerance is the only way to solve the problem.